The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott ''' The topics I want to elaborate on in this essay are, what was the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, why did Rosa Parks not stand up when the bus driver ordered her to, which incidents ignited the flame that caused the uproar of the African-American community, and what where the consequences of this? Lastly there will be a conclusion. The 1st of December 1955, when the cozy Christmas feeling had just begun, a prominent woman, Rosa Parks, pulled the trigger for the events that the Black community had waited for since the emancipation. This all started by something as little as Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, which leads me to answering my questions; what was the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, and why did Rosa Parks not stand up when she was ordered to? Due to the hypersegregation in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s there was a racial segregation, that reminded of the Apartheid system in South Africa, in the United States. This hypersegregation or racial segregation meant that there was racial segregation of facilities, services, opportunities such as housing, medical care, employment, education, and transportation. During the hypersegregation the Blacks belonged to the lowest class in society. This obviously meant that they did not have the money to buy a car, so they needed to take the bus in order to be transported. Not only were they compelled to take the bus, they also had to sit in the back just because of their skin-color. One day Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old woman, took a seat in the middle of the bus on her way home from work. Before she reached her destination, the bus driver ordered her to move back in the bus, or stand up so a white man could use her seat. Rosa Parks refused, her refusal lead to her being arrested because she had violated the city law requiring racial segregated public busses.1 {C} {C} When the incident with Rosa Parks occurred, it was unlikely that she had the slightest idea of what she had set into motion. Other black women had refused to give up their seats in the state of Alabama the same year too, but the outcome with Rosa Parks was significantly different. I will elaborate the outcome later on. Now the focus will be on why Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. Rosa Parks mentions in an interview that she had paid for the bus ticket just as all the other people in the bus, so she found it unreasonable when she had to stand up, although there was this empty seat. Furthermore she adds that it was very frustrating and very humiliating for her. ''”I didn’t get on the bus with the intention of being arrested,”2' '' '' '' She has often said later. ''“I got on the bus with the intention of going home.”'3' '' When Rosa Parks was arrested, E.D. Nixon4 bailed Rosa Parks out of jail with the help of a white attorney. He then tried to convince Rosa Parks that it would be good, if her case could be used as a challenge to the city’s bus segregation policy. Hereafter E.D. Nixon contacted a lot of prominent Black leaders, including Martin Luther King, to set up a bus boycott. Only 10 hours after Rosa Parks got arrested; Nixon with the help of other leaders and prominent people created many fliers that were going to be handed out in Black and White communities. The fliers read: ''“Another Negro woman has been arrested and thrown in jail because she refused to get up out of her seat on the bus for a white person to sit down. It is the second time since the Claudette Colvin case that a Negro woman has been arrested for the same thing. This has to be stopped. Negroes have rights, too, for if Negroes did not ride the buses, they could not operate. Three-fourths of the riders are Negroes, yet we are arrested, or have to stand over empty seats. If we do not do something to stop these arrests, they will continue. The next time it may be you, or your daughter, or mother. This woman’s case will come up on Monday. We are, therefore, asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial. Don’t ride the buses to work, to town, to school, or anywhere on Monday. You can afford to stay out of school for one day if you have no other way to go except by bus. You can also afford to stay out of town for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don’t ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off all buses Monday.”'5' '' The initial plan was to boycott the public transportation for one day, but it lasted for 381 whole days. This event changed the lives of 42,000 Blacks. The Blacks had to use unconventional methods such as walking, riding horses etc. to work. The boycott ended on Dec. 20, 1956, and Black Montgomerians returned to the city buses the day after. It was not only the Black Montgomerians that could ride the bus as equals. Thanks to their efforts many other black citizens throughout the nation could also ride the busses as equals. But why did the Blacks protest and start movements to begin with? And why was there a racial segregation system in the US? This will lead to the answering of the third and fourth question: which incidents ignited the flame that caused the uproar of the African-American community, the uproar in the aforementioned events, and what where the consequences of this uproar? In the timespan 1497-1776 America was a colony and it belonged to the British Empire. Approx. 20 million6 Blacks were transported as slaves into America. Here they worked as slaves on cotton, sugar, and tobacco fields. In the mid 1700s the current USA fought for its independence. In 1776 the United States of America was formed. The Declaration of Independence was signed on 4th of July, 1776. A paragraph in The Declaration of Independence says: ''“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”'7' '' '' '' The Declaration of Independence is a paradox in itself because the people signing it, and claiming to believe in its word do not follow the words. Although it clearly says: “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”, the people do not follow this phrase, and feel that they are superior because of their skin-color. {C} The Blacks had a hard life: · They could not leave the state they were in · Their family members could get sold any time · Rape of women was a common thing · Punishments were a daily thing · They were not allowed to learn how to read nor write 8 Finally in 1861 there was good news for the Blacks. The Northern States wanted to prohibit slavery and give the slaves freedom. But the Southern States were against this, which lead to The American Civil War that ended in 1865. The Northern States had won and the slaves were free. Or so they thought. Due to various laws making it nearly impossible for a previous slave to gain independence, the result for a former slave would often be that they would be poor and beg to make a living. But there were some Blacks demanding freedom, dignity and rights. As a reaction on these Blacks the Ku Klux Klan9 became more violent and more extreme by lynching Blacks publicly.10 Between 1877 and the mid-1960s the Jim-crow-laws were applied. “The following Jim Crow etiquette norms show how inclusive and pervasive these norms were: a. A black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a white male because it implied being socially equal. Obviously, a black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a white woman, because he risked being accused of rape. b. Blacks and whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together, whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them. c. Under no circumstance was a black male to offer to light the cigarette of a white female -- that gesture implied intimacy. d. Blacks were not allowed to show public affection toward one another in public, especially kissing, because it offended whites. e. Jim Crow etiquette prescribed that blacks were introduced to whites, never whites to blacks. For example: "Mr. Peters (the white person), this is Charlie (the black person), that I spoke to you about." f. Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to blacks, for example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am. Instead, blacks were called by their first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to whites, and were not allowed to call them by their first names. g. If a black person rode in a car driven by a white person, the black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a truck. h. White motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections.”11 All these actions, laws etc. towards the Blacks resulted in deep oppression of their freedom and human rights, so that is why the movements began. All these above-mentioned historical events lead to the Bus Boycott being a symbol on that enough is enough. All these unjust actions and laws towards the Black people of America resulted in deep oppression of their freedom and human rights, which is why the movements, fighting for the rights of the Blacks, began. Many of these above-mentioned historical events took part in the lead up to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. But what where the consequences of the Montgomery Bus Boycott? Thanks to the Bus Boycott many other things such as interracial marriage, voting rights etc., got legalized because people had the courage to stand up and demand their rights. This meant that the Black peoples conditions got better and better and today the president of the USA is Barack Obama who is black. This has all been leading up to the conclusion that the Montgomery Bus Boycott became a vital turning point in terms of equality between races in the US. The boycott which began with Rosa Parks not giving up her seat, became a domestic symbol for equality and represented every black individual throughout the nation regarding the violation of the most basic human rights; equality and freedom. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Literature List Overview. Udgivet af The Montgomery Bus Boycott - They changed the world. Internetadresse: http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/overview/ - Besøgt d. 10.10.2013 (Internet) Civil Rights: Montgomery Bus Boycott. Udgivet af National Archives at Atlanta . Internetadresse: http://www.archives.gov/atlanta/education/resources-by-state/montgomery-bus-boycott.html - Besøgt d. 11.10.2013 (Internet) Edgar Daniel \"E.D.\" Nixon. Udgivet af The Montgomery Bus Boycott - They changed the world. Internetadresse: http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/edgar-daniel-e-d-nixon/ - Besøgt d. 11.10.2013 (Internet) USA(?): Uarhængighedserklæringen. 11.10.2013 Ku Klux Klan . Udgivet af History.com. Internetadresse: http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan - Besøgt d. 11.10.2013 (Internet) Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Udgivet af Ferris State University. Internetadresse: http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm - Besøgt d. 11.10.2013 (Internet) Montgomery Bus Boycott. Ukendt, Ukendt. Set: http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/edgar-daniel-e-d-nixon/ . 11.10.2013. (Billede) ---- 1 Documents of the arrestment of Rosa Parks; http://www.archives.gov/atlanta/education/resources-by-state/images/parks-bus-diagram.pdf - Diagram of the Bus showing where Rosa Parks was seated. (Sources on this paragraph continued on the next page). National Archives Identifier. http://www.archives.gov/atlanta/education/resources-by-state/images/parks-police-report.pdf - Police report on arrest of Rosa Parks, National Archives Identifier. http://www.archives.gov/atlanta/education/resources-by-state/images/alabama-judgment.pdf - Judgment from Aurelia Browder et al. v. W. A. Gayle et al.: National Archives Identifier 2 Quote from Rosa Parks, http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/overview/ 3 Quote from Rosa Parks, http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/overview/ 4 http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/edgar-daniel-e-d-nixon/ - ''“affectionately dubbed as the father of the civil rights movement, Nixon was the head of the Montgomery branch of the Pullman Porters union and president of the local NAACP. Long before the famous boycott, Nixon had been campaigning for civil rights, particularly voting rights, working in the black community to get people registered to vote.” '' 5 excerpt of the flier - http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/overview/ 6 Information comes from Christie from Uni. 7 An excerpt of ”The Declaration of Independence” 8 Information comes from Christie from Uni. 9 http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan 10 Build on information from Christie from Uni. 11 http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm